Trepan KitTo let out the headache, the 14th century Aztecs drilled holes in migraine patients' skulls. The technique regained favor in the 19th century.

Reveal little known migraine facts and watch film clips of interviews with migraineurs.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Out of My Head by The Migraine Project is a feature documentary film in the making. We are pursuing the history and mystery of Migraine, and its remarkable place in the human condition.

Migraine is a devastating but fascinating neurological condition with a compelling story to tell. Alice in Wonderland, Vincent Van Gogh, LSD and Elvis all figure into its colorful history.

Our film will take a look at the entertaining details, and the big questions too — like the source and management of illness, the economic cost of human disability, and the nature of pain and suffering — while shining a spotlight on the frontiers of neuroscience and the exploration of the brain.

Most importantly, you will hear courageous and wondrous stories directly from migraineurs.

Migraine is one of the most pervasive — and least understood — medical conditions to afflict humankind. Widely and inaccurately believed to be just "a really bad headache." It is actually a host of exotic symptoms indicating neurological abnormality in the brain.

Characterized by episodes of blinding, debilitating pain experienced in the head, the onset of Migraine is preceded in 30 percent of adult sufferers by a visual aura (blurred/impaired vision, flashes of light and color), and accompanied in nearly all sufferers by anxiety, nausea, vomiting, and hyper-sensitivity to light. Extreme cases can present with hallucinations, temporary blindness, aphasia, and stroke-like symptoms. It affects over 300 million people worldwide. Three quarters of these sufferers are women.

Worldwide, migraine is the cause of 1.3 per cent of all disability due to illness. In the European Union (EU) alone, the total annual cost of all headache has recently been estimated at 155 billion Euros. Yet the average amount of time spent on headache training in medical school is a total of 3 hours.

There are the statistics, and then there are the real stories of lives impacted by migraine.

WATCH THE TRAILER

Some exciting highlights from our evolving exploration of the remarkable condition, migraine:

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Now that you've watched the trailer, consider making a donation. Pass it on — it takes a village!

WHO WE ARE

Susanna Styron and Jacki Ochs are award-winning filmmakers whose work has been seen in numerous film festivals including Venice, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Sundance; in broadcast on HBO, PBS, A&E, Discovery, Lifetime and many international networks; and in national theatrical release.

Their most recent collaboration, the feature documentary 9/12: From Chaos to Community was named a "Best Documentary of the Year" by Video Librarian Magazine. It is currently in the collection of hundreds of libraries around the country and was shown widely during the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The YouTube trailer for "9/12" was until recently the only documentary trailer ever to receive over 2,000,000 views. It has now been surpassed by "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never." Really.

Why We Make Movies

In the course of our careers as filmmakers we have learned that documentary films make a difference. From introducing a new subject to audiences, to impacting legislation, a powerful film coupled with determination and strategic outreach builds community and voices for change.

We invite you to join us on this important journey as we seek to inspire greater compassion for migraineurs and increased support for research within the scientific community.

DONATE

Join Us

Become a Migraine Project Member: sign up and we will keep you informed of our progress.

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Documentaries can have a huge impact — but they cost money. We have completed a wonderfully successful Kickstarter campaign, which will allow us to spend several months editing and doing follow-up shooting.

We must continue to raise funds in order to complete our film and get it out into the world. Your tax-deductible donation to The Migraine Project film OUT OF MY HEAD will help us do that. For the cost of a couple of movie tickets (or more!) you can be part of a film that will change the world's view of this disabling disease.

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